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Re: Knowledge vs. Information


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Posted by Kees de Vos on July 26, 1999 at 10:18:47:

In Reply to: Knowledge vs. Information: a clean start to the debate below. posted by John Bardos on July 25, 1999 at 15:08:44:

Hi John,

in my opinion everybody is entitled to their own set of definitions. Based on my experiences the one that works best for me is:

- Knowledge can only be stored in the minds of people, everything else is therefore data or information. Explicit knowledge is "nothing more" than information!

- The difference between information and data is a bit more blurry, it depends on the context it is used for. However in the situations I encountered this difference is not really significant.

The bottomline is that for knowledge to flow, emphasising on the data or information (books, manuals, intranet, etc., etc., etc.) alone will just not do.

When one person shares his/her knowledge what gets transferred is information. This information will ALWAYS be interpreted by the receiver of this information, hereby creating knowledge at the end of the receiver. Whether this knowledge is actually contributing to the referential framework of the receiver depends on it being accepted or not. If I send the knowledge I have using the wrong words/intonation/medium, it might be rejected by the receiver. Mind you, there still tends to be knowledge created at the part of the receiver. If I keep up this wrong line of communication, the knowledge created at the end of the receiver might well be not to even bother assessing it at all.

As knowledge itself is only present in the heads of individuals I see Knowledge Management as a communication issue, which end tends to be to align the goals of both the individuals in an organization and the goals of the organization as a whole.

Again, this one works best for me. It being MY personal "truth/knowledge" I can only hope this explanation will be fruitful to others :-)

Kees de Vos


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